A lot of people have been asking what I think of the RAT Izula, and if I could review it. I've wanted to for a while, but I had a problem: if I don't have the knife, I can't review it. So I offered some stuff for trade, and Jeff (cutlerylover here) traded me for the Izula he had in a video review. It can be found here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWfrdnWVLJs
This is my review of the Izula, and in short, it's great knife. Since this is the kit knife, I'll also detail the kit components. Mine is black, model IZULA-B-KIT, and sells for about $60 in stores. It's also available without the kit (just the knife and sheath) for about $50. This knife is also available in pink, OD green, or tan, with or without the survival kit. All measurements are from my ruler, so it might no synch up 100% with website descriptions. Let's get to it...
The Knife: The Izula is a one-piece skeletonized neck knife. It's made of 1095 carbon steel and is just under 3/16" thick. The entire knife, except for the grind line, has a black powder-coated finish. The blade is flat ground and 2-3/4" long with a 2-1/2" cutting edge. The handle is just under 3-1/2" long. The handle is hollowed out in a teardrop shape, and has a large ring in the butt for your pinky or a carabiner.
Photos from RAT's website...
The knife is pretty light at 2 ounces in weight, and is unnoticeable until you need it. It doesn't weigh you down or stick you in the side.
The spine of the blade has a 9/16" long section of jimping, and it's coarse enough to be useful without tearing your thumb up. As far as markings, the Izula has the following lasered on... IZULA on the left side of the blade. The RAT Cutlery logo is on the left side tang. The right side has a bullet ant lasered on, and the right side tang has ROWEN lasered on. The left side of the top handle bar also has a serial number, unique to every Izula. Mine is 0027.
While I haven't used the Izula hard yet, I've done some outdoor work with it. It will clean a deer out very nicely, as the upswept blade really lends itself to skinning and slicing. I tried to use it as a thrower just to see what would happen, and I can get it to stick about 80% of the time. I understand that it's not a thrower, but isn't it nice to know that you could?
The handle length is just about perfect for a neck knife that's intended to be used for survival. It's not irritating, even without wrapping it, and offers a great grip when your hands are bloody or just plain wet.
The blade came out of the package razor sharp and needed no touch-up. Even after the use mentioned above, it only required a very light stropping to shave hair again. It still has 100% of its finish intact, and there are no rust spots.
The Sheath: If you order the Izula without the survival kit, you'll just get the knife itself and a sheath...
The sheath is black, and is injection-molded polymer. It's 3-3/4" long and 5-16" thick, and has a large hole in the bottom for attaching a carabiner or neck lanyard. There are also two vertical holes and a vertical slot for lashing to gear; it will accept a large Tek-Lok for either horizontal or vertical carry. The two holes and the open slot can also be used to hold extra cordage. The Izula snaps into the sheath securely and is held in with two nubs, which is typical of this style sheath. It's secure; turning the sheath upside down and shaking doesn't dislodge it, and I carried it for a few hours upside down on my hip with no problem. With the knife inserted, the sheath is 7" long. Nice job, Mr. Randall :thumbup:
SURVIVAL KIT COMPONENTS
If you choose to get the Izula with the survival kit, you'll get the following components, and I'll tell you what they're for.
Again, from RAT's website...
These items are listed and pictured on the sheet that comes with the Izula, and is available as a PDF on RAT's website here... http://www.ratcutlery.com/izula_sheet_front.pdf
Cord Lock: A black spring-loaded piece of plastic (actually, two pieces of plastic fitted together) used to keep your cord in place. Squeeze to open, insert cordage, let go to close. Removal is just as easy. I don't use this unless I'm attaching the Izula to a neck lanyard, but it's still pretty helpful.
Paracord: Seven-strand OD green 550 cord, five feet of it. The ends are already melted. Use it for a handle wrap, neck lanyard, or store it on the sheath for when you might need it.
MOLLE Lock: That's MOLLE, pronounced "Molly". She's Alice's younger cousin. This is another fitted piece of black plastic. It's two halves, hinged together and locking. It goes onto your MOLLE attachment points and holds the Izula in place horizontally or vertically. There are four screw holes in the MOLLE lock so that you can find the best fit. Because of the smaller inside dimensions of the MOLLE lock, you can't really fit it onto a standard belt. This piece of hardware is quite useful for securing the Izula to any kind of strapping, MOLLE or not. The included screws, bolts, and O-rings are for this attachment.
Fire Flint: A magnesium rod with a ferrocium rod attached. I don't have it on me so I'm not sure of the specific dimensions, but I think it's about 2" long by 1/4" thick. There's a hole drilled into one side so you can attach it to a split ring or a lanyard. Do I really need to explain how this works?
Thanks a million for including this piece of essential survival gear.
Snap Hook: A piece of black plastic used to attach the Izula to just about anything. Looking at it, it's one of those hooks that are used on duffel bags to hold the shoulder strap on. Mine doesn't get much use, but I have plans for it involving a trap trigger.
Split Rings: They're black metal split rings, that's all. You get two of them; one medium-sized and one large size. I don't have these on me either, so I can't give you exact dimensions. They're handy for attaching the Izula or its accessories to things, and make nice trap triggers.
Whistle Assembly: Another piece of black plastic. It's in two pieces and snaps together. It's the same thing as the cord lock, except no springs (once it's in place, it's hard to remove) and the open end has a whistle. I'm using this to hold the ends of my handle wrap together, and it's working nicely. I'll always have a whistle whenever I have the knife, which is a lot. The whistle itself can be blown pretty hard and makes an appropriately-loud toot. Once again, thanks to Jeff Randall for putting useful items in this kit :thumbup:
The back of the above-mentioned sheet has suggested uses for the survival items, as well as a short how-to for wrapping the handle. Here's the PDF from RAT's website... http://www.ratcutlery.com/izula_sheet_back.pdf
If you haven't held an Izula in your hand, you really need to. It's a pretty useful knife that won't bug you, made even more useful when you buy the kit. Consider the price, consider that it's 100% American-made, then consider who the designer is. After all of this, you'll end up buying one of every color. Trust me
Here's RAT Cutlery's page on the Izula... http://www.ratcutlery.com/neck_knife.htm
This is my review of the Izula, and in short, it's great knife. Since this is the kit knife, I'll also detail the kit components. Mine is black, model IZULA-B-KIT, and sells for about $60 in stores. It's also available without the kit (just the knife and sheath) for about $50. This knife is also available in pink, OD green, or tan, with or without the survival kit. All measurements are from my ruler, so it might no synch up 100% with website descriptions. Let's get to it...
The Knife: The Izula is a one-piece skeletonized neck knife. It's made of 1095 carbon steel and is just under 3/16" thick. The entire knife, except for the grind line, has a black powder-coated finish. The blade is flat ground and 2-3/4" long with a 2-1/2" cutting edge. The handle is just under 3-1/2" long. The handle is hollowed out in a teardrop shape, and has a large ring in the butt for your pinky or a carabiner.
Photos from RAT's website...
The knife is pretty light at 2 ounces in weight, and is unnoticeable until you need it. It doesn't weigh you down or stick you in the side.
The spine of the blade has a 9/16" long section of jimping, and it's coarse enough to be useful without tearing your thumb up. As far as markings, the Izula has the following lasered on... IZULA on the left side of the blade. The RAT Cutlery logo is on the left side tang. The right side has a bullet ant lasered on, and the right side tang has ROWEN lasered on. The left side of the top handle bar also has a serial number, unique to every Izula. Mine is 0027.
While I haven't used the Izula hard yet, I've done some outdoor work with it. It will clean a deer out very nicely, as the upswept blade really lends itself to skinning and slicing. I tried to use it as a thrower just to see what would happen, and I can get it to stick about 80% of the time. I understand that it's not a thrower, but isn't it nice to know that you could?
The handle length is just about perfect for a neck knife that's intended to be used for survival. It's not irritating, even without wrapping it, and offers a great grip when your hands are bloody or just plain wet.
The blade came out of the package razor sharp and needed no touch-up. Even after the use mentioned above, it only required a very light stropping to shave hair again. It still has 100% of its finish intact, and there are no rust spots.
The Sheath: If you order the Izula without the survival kit, you'll just get the knife itself and a sheath...
The sheath is black, and is injection-molded polymer. It's 3-3/4" long and 5-16" thick, and has a large hole in the bottom for attaching a carabiner or neck lanyard. There are also two vertical holes and a vertical slot for lashing to gear; it will accept a large Tek-Lok for either horizontal or vertical carry. The two holes and the open slot can also be used to hold extra cordage. The Izula snaps into the sheath securely and is held in with two nubs, which is typical of this style sheath. It's secure; turning the sheath upside down and shaking doesn't dislodge it, and I carried it for a few hours upside down on my hip with no problem. With the knife inserted, the sheath is 7" long. Nice job, Mr. Randall :thumbup:
SURVIVAL KIT COMPONENTS
If you choose to get the Izula with the survival kit, you'll get the following components, and I'll tell you what they're for.
Again, from RAT's website...
These items are listed and pictured on the sheet that comes with the Izula, and is available as a PDF on RAT's website here... http://www.ratcutlery.com/izula_sheet_front.pdf
Cord Lock: A black spring-loaded piece of plastic (actually, two pieces of plastic fitted together) used to keep your cord in place. Squeeze to open, insert cordage, let go to close. Removal is just as easy. I don't use this unless I'm attaching the Izula to a neck lanyard, but it's still pretty helpful.
Paracord: Seven-strand OD green 550 cord, five feet of it. The ends are already melted. Use it for a handle wrap, neck lanyard, or store it on the sheath for when you might need it.
MOLLE Lock: That's MOLLE, pronounced "Molly". She's Alice's younger cousin. This is another fitted piece of black plastic. It's two halves, hinged together and locking. It goes onto your MOLLE attachment points and holds the Izula in place horizontally or vertically. There are four screw holes in the MOLLE lock so that you can find the best fit. Because of the smaller inside dimensions of the MOLLE lock, you can't really fit it onto a standard belt. This piece of hardware is quite useful for securing the Izula to any kind of strapping, MOLLE or not. The included screws, bolts, and O-rings are for this attachment.
Fire Flint: A magnesium rod with a ferrocium rod attached. I don't have it on me so I'm not sure of the specific dimensions, but I think it's about 2" long by 1/4" thick. There's a hole drilled into one side so you can attach it to a split ring or a lanyard. Do I really need to explain how this works?
Thanks a million for including this piece of essential survival gear.
Snap Hook: A piece of black plastic used to attach the Izula to just about anything. Looking at it, it's one of those hooks that are used on duffel bags to hold the shoulder strap on. Mine doesn't get much use, but I have plans for it involving a trap trigger.
Split Rings: They're black metal split rings, that's all. You get two of them; one medium-sized and one large size. I don't have these on me either, so I can't give you exact dimensions. They're handy for attaching the Izula or its accessories to things, and make nice trap triggers.
Whistle Assembly: Another piece of black plastic. It's in two pieces and snaps together. It's the same thing as the cord lock, except no springs (once it's in place, it's hard to remove) and the open end has a whistle. I'm using this to hold the ends of my handle wrap together, and it's working nicely. I'll always have a whistle whenever I have the knife, which is a lot. The whistle itself can be blown pretty hard and makes an appropriately-loud toot. Once again, thanks to Jeff Randall for putting useful items in this kit :thumbup:
The back of the above-mentioned sheet has suggested uses for the survival items, as well as a short how-to for wrapping the handle. Here's the PDF from RAT's website... http://www.ratcutlery.com/izula_sheet_back.pdf
If you haven't held an Izula in your hand, you really need to. It's a pretty useful knife that won't bug you, made even more useful when you buy the kit. Consider the price, consider that it's 100% American-made, then consider who the designer is. After all of this, you'll end up buying one of every color. Trust me
Here's RAT Cutlery's page on the Izula... http://www.ratcutlery.com/neck_knife.htm
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